The long Diwali weekend has come, and it was time to head back home to Delhi....
This was a well-planned trip from an aviator's perspective - we were to be flying on the Dream)liner, Air-India's Boeing 787. We had carefully chosen AI348, the flight that heads to Shanghai-Pudong via Delhi - the flight departs Mumbai at 0750 hours, reaching Delhi at 1010 hours.
Being an international flight, with a domestic leg, we were asked to report for checkin at least two and a half hours before the scheduled departure time.
We reached Mumbai's Terminal 2 before dawn.... The terminal was lit up and illuminated for Diwali... It looked awesome...
This left me speechless....
(Thanks to Neeti for grabbing these magical sights on her camera!)
We were flying on VT-ANL - this Dream)liner was fabricated at the Boeing facility at Charleston, South Carolina. It undertook its maiden flight on October 28, 2012, and was delivered to Air-India on December 29-30, 2012 when it flew on the CHS-FRA-DEL route...
We had an unusual takeoff from the 09 end of the primary runway 09-27 and took off over Kurla, overflying Vikhroli and the Vashi creek....
The GEnx-1B engines looked massive - there was indeed much lesser noise in the cabin and takeoff was much smoother...
We turned northwards over the Vashi creek overflying Mulund and Thane towards our left....
Once the seatbelt signs were turned off, the cabin crew dimmed the windows from their controls...
The Dream)liner windows are 65% bigger than conventional windows and passengers have a knob that helps in electrically dimming the windows...
The dimming effect is the result of an electrified gel sandwiched between two thin pieces of glass. As the electric current increases, the gel darkens and as it drops, the gel lightens. The system is a technological marvel...
Three stages of dimming.....
Overflying Rajasthan...
Dimmers at work over Rajasthan...
Notice the curvature of the Earth...
Overflying the Aravalis...
Approach into DEL
Landing on DEL's 29-11...
Landing was super smooth like running a knife through butter... wish Jet Airways learns a thing or two about smooth landings...
Winter is setting in with perceptible haze...
Three sisters - Boeing 777s from Emirates, Jet Airways and British Airways on the ramp at Delhi's Terminal 3...
The Dream)liner experience was an awesome one. Not only was flight a very smooth one, service on board was excellent. Air-India's in-flight entertainment was pretty decent - I watched the movie, Godzilla. Breakfast was excellent as well - omelettes and sausages with a flaky croissant... The stewards were kind with endless refills of lemon tea... Leg space is always awesome on Air-India, the Dream)liner was no different.... In all Air-India scores highly over domestic carriers like Jet Airways and IndiGo.
With today's flight on the Boeing 787-8 Dream)liner, I have traveled on all Boeing commercial aircraft from Boeing 707 to the Boeing 787 with the sole exception of the Boeing 757. Chances on traveling on a Boeing 757 are remote today. In India, the aircraft is operated Blue Dart for their cargo operations. A few carriers in the United States still operate the Boeing 757, but they would be taken off service soon.
My track record with Airbus is a lot better - I have flown on all their commercial aircraft - Airbus A300, A310, A320-series, A330, A340 and A380. Now look forward to the Airbus A350 entering commercial service.
